Author's Note:
QLFC Season 11 Round 4
Team : Wigtown Wanderers
Position: Chaser 2
Word Count: 1491, excluding the A/N
Prompt: Write about a house with troublesome secrets.
Optional Prompts: Haunt, thief, inheritance
WARNING: Mentions of death and thievery
This is a Ghost AU with an original character. I chose the name Laverna because it's the name of the Roman goddess of thievery.
It was a cloudy, windy summer day. The sky was dull and overcast; it seemed the approach of rain was near. Little Hangleton, a small Muggle village nestled between two steep hills, was nearly empty because of the current weather. Days like these weren't valued enough by most, but it came to her advantage. Laverna walked away from The Riddle House, which stood on one of the hills, allowing anyone there to overlook the village below. When she heard about the manor, she thought it was full of valuable items, but upon looking at the house earlier, she knew she was wrong. Its windows were boarded, tiles were missing from its roof, and ivy grew on its surface. Once a magnificent manor and the largest and fanciest building for miles around, The Riddle House was now dilapidated and unoccupied. She found nothing to take; everything valuable was likely inherited or sold. So, Laverna found herself entering the small village. She walked around, hoping to find a place to steal from. The Muggle part of the world was larger and thievery could go unnoticed. If she was caught, there was always the Wizarding World to hide in, albeit being a squib.
Laverna passed a closed church and spotted two teenagers near it. They were talking about a haunted house full of troublesome secrets. She had nothing else to do, so why not ask them about this house? Afterall, there might be something worth purloining.
"Hello. I'm Laverna," she said, approaching the two teenagers. "Hi," the brown haired teenager replied, "Is there something you need?" "I heard you talking about a haunted house. Could you tell me more about it? Where is it?" "Decades ago, the haunted house was inhabited by a strange, aggressive, mad family called the Gaunts. The patriarch of the family died there and his children left and never returned," the blonde explained. She never heard of the Gaunt family, but it seemed like a wizarding name rather than a Muggle one. It seemed intriguing.
"There are rumors that a ghost haunts that house. Very few people were brave enough to go in, but once they returned, they wouldn't tell a soul about that moldy shack," the other teenager added.
That was odd. Was the shack cursed with Dark Magic?
"How were the Gaunts strange?" Laverna asked, but the two boys shrugged.
After a long moment of silence, Laverna looked around. "Where is this haunted house?"
They pointed in a specific direction where she could only see large, gloomy looking trees. It was several seconds before Laverna's eyes discerned a building almost entirely covered by the tangle of trees. It seemed to be a very odd location to build a house, or else to leave the trees, as they blocked all light.
She wondered if it was inhabited. Well, probably not. Its condition appeared far worse than The Riddle Manor. "Well, explorer, be careful," the blonde warned. "All theories about that place are terrible and troublesome.."
"I will be cautious," Laverna assured. "Bye!"
"Bye," the two teenagers said as she left, heading to the knot of trees.
Laverna pondered why she was headed to a moldy, untidy, derelict place that probably lacked anything valuable.
After some time, she spotted the house through the twist of trees. Finally!
The dump's condition was worse up close. Its walls were mossy and countless tiles had fallen off the roof. Nettles grew around it, their tips reaching the windows, which were minuscule and thick with grime. A dead snake was nailed to the door, but despite the unpleasant sight, Laverna opened it.
She walked through the shack, examining each room quickly and rather carelessly, but what was there to see? The floor was covered with dust, the old furniture blemished and blotched, the floorboards creaky, and each room was more hideous and uninviting than the previous one. Even the dirty gloves on her hands gleamed of purity compared to this dump that stenched of spoiled food!
She was about to turn and head out, disappointed she couldn't find anything to steal, when she heard a snarl. Laverna spun around, curious about the sounds.
Before her eyes was the ghost of a man dressed in rags. His thick hair seemed to be so matted with dirt that the color was indistinguishable. His hair was also so long it covered his eyes completely. He was missing several teeth and those that remained were sickeningly yellow.
"Who are you?" the filthy man questioned aggressively.
Laverna stood where she was fearlessly. He was a ghost, therefore he couldn't harm her in any way, even magically.
"An explorer," she replied. "Who are you?"
"What you doin' ere, in ma property?!" he exclaimed, ignoring her question.
"I'm exploring," she answered. Didn't she just say she was an explorer? How daft was he?
"Get out!" he ordered.
"I won't, unless you answer my questions."
"Show me what ye stole!" he demanded, but that only confused her. What was there to steal?
"I stole nothing," she said, opening the small bag she inherited to prove it to him. "As I said, I'm here to explore. I merely seek answers."
He growled in irritation. "What blood are yeh?"
She sighed, thinking of an intelligent answer. She didn't know what blood he was… pure-bloods didn't live in conditions like these, but he wouldn't ask about her blood first thing if he weren't a suprecist. "As pure as you are," she finally answered. He seemed to accept it.
"You can ask three questions, only, then leave and never return!"
She had to make her choices carefully. "Who are you?"
He snarled for no apparent reason. "Morfin Gaunt, son of Marvolo Gaunt, descendant of the great Salazar Slytherin himself!"
How strange. The Slytherin line had died out, except for You-Know-Who, so he has most likely been a ghost for decades by now, if not a century or two. Even stranger, why would a descendant of Salazar Slytherin be drowning in poverty? The only thing that seemed proof of his statement was the snake nailed to the door.
Maybe another question could answer that. "How, exactly, detail by detail, did you die?"
"I cursed a Mudblood ma blood traitor sister loved!" Morfin Gaunt said pridefully. "Father and I fought some Muggle Ministry man and his gang and we went to Azkaban. Father returned but died here. I returned six years after Father did."
Laverna desperately desired to ask about his sister, but the reason for his transformation into a ghost seemed a more rewarding topic. Ghosts only became ghosts if there was something they regretted too deeply, to the point the regret would glue their souls to Earth.
"What is the thing you regret the most?" she asked, knowing she was pressing his buttons.
He brushed his filthy hair out of his face. His eyes looked in opposite directions, making him look even more unappealing.
"We used to own these precious heirlooms. One was a locket and another was a ring. When I came back from Azkaban, this half-blood parselmouth killed the Riddles and stole the ring, then modified ma memory to frame me."
That was terribly messed up. Laverna didn't pity this hideous git who lived like a pig, but their inbred family was insanely twisted. The parselmouth that killed the Riddles was just as crazy to frame a family member. These Slytherins would do anything to get what they want…
"Where did your sister go?" she asked, knowing she passed her limit of questions.
"She left a letter I found sayin' she married the Mudblood Riddle. The half-blood was her—" he began, but then stopped.
"You passed your limit! You little rascal!"
"Oh, too bad then. What can you do to me?" Laverna said.
Indirect answers were too easily obtained. It seemed like the parselmouth was the sister's son, but knowing the family was poor and she was most likely ugly, she probably seduced the pitiable Muggle and he could've left her. That would explain why a half-Riddle would kill his family.
She turned around and quickly walked away. Then she heard the sound of a floorboard creaking as she stepped on it. Something could be hidden under it…
Laverna bent on her knees, opened the floorboard, and took out a big tarnished ring with a large stone in it. It felt enchanted… no, rather cursed. She decided to take it anyway.
"Ma ring! That ma ring!" Morfin yelled, his voice regretful and guilty. "Give it!"
Laverna only smiled, the ring still held in her gloved hand. Forget this unsolved mystery of the half-blood parselmouth, his family issues, and these troublesome secrets. She had jewelry!
"Goodbye Morfin," Laverna said before opening the door and closing it behind her, making the nailed snake swing pathetically. Such a 'haunted' house.
Laverna heard the filthy man's desperate cries, but one could always take what isn't given. The ring, no matter how cursed or how dark, was all hers.